MORE preschools and kindergartens are getting their pupils to learn through playing rather than just sitting still and listening to the teachers.

This year, at least two schools have introduced programmes that follow what is known as the play-based philosophy.

International school Avondale Grammar School in Toa Payoh started a play-based preschool class in January for children aged three to five.

Objects and learning aids in the classroom are arranged thematically into learning centres, and children move around for different activities.

So in a 'dramatic centre', children use props and costumes to re-enact scenes from daily life, while in a 'manipulative centre', they work with building blocks.

Teachers do not stick strictly to a fixed lesson plan each day. Instead, they look out for areas that the children show more interest in and ask questions about during class, and teach them skills such as reading and writing through these areas.

For example, if a child is curious about the attendance sheet while the teacher is taking attendance, the teacher explains what it is, and also takes the opportunity to teach him about the days of the week.

Local kindergarten chain PAP Community Foundation is introducing more play time in its schools too.

In June, 20 of them were rebranded as Little Wings schools and given a new curriculum that focuses on learning through play and hands-on activities.

Play-based learning has been available in some schools here such as NTUC, Learning Vision and Chiltern House for several years now.

But in recent years, more schools are starting to implement it as they have come to realise the importance of using play in early childhood education, said an expert on the method, Ms Ho Yin Fong.

Research has shown that children's brains develop better when they engage in interactive activities instead of rote learning, added Ms Ho, academic director of Regional Training and Resource Centre in Early Childhood Care and Education for Asia, which trains preschool teachers.

Ms Fiona Walker, the principal director at the Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning and Chiltern House, noted that parents have become more receptive to the new teaching method over the years.

'It took some persuading at first because play-based learning does not produce so many tangible products, such as worksheets or exercises that need to be filled in. But parents gradually realised that their kids come to have a very sound understanding of key reading and writing concepts,' she said.

In fact, some parents had asked Avondale Grammar School for a play-based curriculum in its preschool, said its preschool director Kalliope Coplin.

'Children are naturally curious. They retain knowledge better if they are motivated to find it out themselves.

'Some of them said that they want their children to have fun and not go to 'military school' every day!' she said.

Mrs Kathleen Baudinette, a housewife, said that she was happy with Avondale's preschool because ever since her three-year-old son Harry started attending it, he has become more confident and enjoys the learning process more.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.